Home Heating Survey

A five-yearly survey which aims to measure how Hawke’s Bay residents heat their homes gets underway this week.

The survey will update the data gathered in 2005 when the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s first emission inventory looked at the extent domestic heating, motor vehicles, industrial and commercial activities, outdoor burning, orchard heaters, shipping and aviation added to air pollution across the region.

The emission inventory is an important part of Council’s plan to meet Ministry for the Environment’s targets for air quality.

The survey results will be released in July as part of an emission report evaluating the sources of PM10* and other contaminants in Hawke’s Bay’s air.

In 2005 the household survey of heating methods and fuels found the way people heated their homes varied with location, with gas (47%) and wood burners (38%) being the most common methods of heating the main living areas in Napier.

Wood burners were the most common method in Hastings (51%), Flaxmere (63%), Wairoa, Waipawa and Waipukurau (65%) and in the wider region (73%). In Havelock North, wood burners and electricity were both common methods used by 50% and 47% of households respectively. Many households used more than one method of heating the main living area.

Domestic home heating was found to be the major source of PM10 emissions in all areas, accounting for 78% to 92% of total daily winter emissions.  As a result, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council introduced a funding incentive programme to assist homeowners within the Hastings and Napier airsheds to upgrade non-compliant wood burners and open fires to cleaner forms of heating.

To date 134 homes have received Council’s clean heating subsidies, electing to repay the cost of upgrading to clean heat through their property’s rates or take advantage of a one-off non-repayable grant.

Additional questions have been added to this year’s survey to gauge people’s awareness of the Heat Smart funding assistance programme and of burning seasoned (dry) wood.

1430 residents will be surveyed across Napier, Hastings, Flaxmere and Havelock North.

*(particulate matter or extra fine particles that have been identified as a human health risk)